I saw an updated list released by E2R HR that I thought might be useful for employers requiring sick notes, especially when many have employees working remotely and some times from other provinces.  The original article is HERE.

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In October 2024 the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) released a statement calling for the elimination of sick notes for short-term minor illnesses. In parallel, we have seen the various jurisdictions review, and at times update, their legislation around the collection of sick notes to substantiate short-term illness. The current legislative restrictions are as follows:

Ontario: Employers are restricted from requiring doctor’s notes for the first three days of sick leave annually. Effective June 19, 2025, Ontario’s long-term illness leave will come into effect and will have its own rules around medical notes (stay tuned for our next alert for more details!).

Quebec: Employers are restricted from requesting medical documentation for an employee’s first three periods of absence due to illness, each not exceeding three consecutive days, within a twelve-month period. In addition, employers can not require a medical certificate if an employee is absent to provide care to a child, a relative or a person for whom the employee acts as a caregiver.

New Brunswick: Employers are prohibited from requesting sick notes for absences of five days or less, unless an employee has had two such absences in the previous twelve months.

Newfoundland and Labrador: Employers are restricted from requiring sick notes until after three consecutive days of sick leave. 

Nova Scotia: Employers can no longer request a sick note unless an employee is absent for more than five working days or has already had two absences of five or fewer working days in the previous twelve-month period.

Prince Edward Island: Employers are restricted from requiring sick notes until after three consecutive days of sick leave. Employers are not permitted to request medical certificates for a single day of absence.

Saskatchewan: Employers can no longer request a sick note unless an employee is absent for more than five consecutive working days or has or has been absent twice for two or more days in the preceding twelve months.

Federal: Employers can no longer request a sick note unless an employee is absent for more than five consecutive working days.

British Columbia: Employers can request “reasonably sufficient proof” that an employee is sick. Bill 11 has been introduced and would eliminate the need for employees to get sick notes for short-term absence.

Manitoba and Alberta do not yet have legislation preventing the collection of sick notes.

Many employers (and many of our clients) utilize Foreign Workers on Work Permits to complement their employee base.  These can require some special handholding in several areas around benefits.

1.  Many insurers require an employee to be covered by the provincial health plan (PHP) (e.g. OHIP in Ontario).  Foreign workers may have to wait for 6 months, make application and be approved for PHP before they are eligible for benefit plan coverage.  SOME insurers may allow, or make available, Provincial Plan Replacement (PPR) coverage to fill this gap as an alternative to waiting (hence benefits could begin on the first date worked).
2. Service Ontario (where OHIP is applied for in Ontario) does NOT recognize “Maintained Status” that may be provided by Service Canada (that handles work permits).  This status allows a foreign worker to continue working until their permit is renewed.  Service Ontario would show that OHIP is now lapsed and the foreign worker would need to reapply or re-purchase PPR coverage to maintain coverage by the plan.
3. With the changes below, employees may see the renewal or evolution of their foreign worker status changed and hence more difficult.

Details are provided in the article below.  Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions on the benefit coverage for your Foreign Workers or need assistance in ensuring they are properly covered..

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For much of the last decade, employers in Canada have operated under an unofficial formula: bring in a skilled worker, offer stable employment, and trust that permanent residency (PR) would follow. It worked—until now…

https://www.mondaq.com/canada/employee-rights-labour-relations/1621560/how-to-keep-your-foreign-workers-employed-in-2025

Patient Choice Cards have been around for many years. They offer a way to give your employees (with generic drug plans) to remain on brand name medication at little or no additional cost over what they would pay for the generic.  These programs are supported by brand name manufacturers and there is generally no cost to your plan or your plan members.

We use generic and mandatory generic plans as a way to control employer costs. Generic drugs are aften sold at 15 to 25% of their brand name equivalent, creating huge savings for employers.

If you would like to learn more about generics, please visit Health Canada or the Canadian Drug Agency

RxHelps cards:  https://www.rxhelpone.ca/en

Innovicares cards:  https://innovicares.ca/en

Brochure for RxHelpONE

This document is a repost from 2022/2023 of the MINIMUM standards for Ontario Employers.  It includes the posters you MUST have in the workplace as well as policies all firms require (Note: some are effective at 5 or more staff and items like pay equity begin at 10 staff)

Topics and Items include:

• Poster: Employment Standards Act, 2000
• Poster: Workplace Safety and Insurance Act
• Poster: Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”)
• Establishing and Posting: Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee
• Policy, Training and Posting: Health and Safety Awareness and Workplace Violence
• Policy, Training and Posting: Workplace Harassment and Sexual Harassment
• Policy: Disconnecting from Work (Working for Workers Act, 2021)
• Policy: Electronic Monitoring (Working for Workers Act, 2022)
• Policy: Respect in the Workplace
• Policy, Training and Posting: Accessibility Requirements for All Organizations
• Additional Requirements: Design of Accessible Public Spaces and Websites
• Plan and Posting: Pay Equity
• Training and Posting: Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)
• Posting: Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017

DOWNLOAD HERE

Ontario WSIB is hosting free webinars on the Ontario Employment Standards Act.

I have NOT attended these, so not sure of the content, but thought it may be useful to clients.

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Information sessions

The ministry, in partnership with organizations across Ontario, provides general information sessions on the Employment Standards Act (ESA).

These information sessions are delivered by subject matter experts from the ministry and cover topics such as hours of work, public holidays, leaves of absence and more.

To sign up for a session, check the calendar below and contact the host directly. This calendar is updated as new sessions are scheduled.

Date/time	Location	Organization	Topic	Register
May 7, 2025 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.	Webinar	Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development	Employment Standards Act Overview for Employees	Zoom Registration
May 12, 2025 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.	Webinar	Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development	Employment Standards Act  Public Holidays Overview	Zoom Registration
May 14, 2025 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.	Webinar	Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development	Employment Standards Act Overview for Employers	Zoom Registration
June 4, 2025 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.	Webinar	Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development	Employment Standards Act Vacation Time and Vacation Pay Overview	Zoom Registration

If you would like to request an information session about an ESA topic outside of the sessions listed in the calendar, please email EOP@Ontario.ca. Please note: Our ability to provide a session depends on the availability of staff and number of attendees (minimum of 10 participants).

https://ontario.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4ebaa11387038c3e29a6a4a8b&id=54e85149a3&e=a048bc1cf2

Each year we include a reminder in your renewal documents about this incredibly valuable (and FREE) benefit, but thought a separate reminder might be a good idea.  Please reach out to your Business (P&C) broker to double check.

Plan or Benefit Administrator Liability coverage is a “Rider” to your business liability (CGL) policy.  It provides coverage in the event an error or omission being made in the administration of the benefit plan (e.g. an employer fails to enrol a new hire and a death, disability or health event then occurs).  I’ve included excepts from a copy of my policy to illustrate what the coverage looks like.

Please reach out to your Business (P&C) broker to double check that you have this rider.  It should not cost anything to add it (for groups under 500 employees), but if they say it will, I can connect you with a broker that can provide a competitive quote that will include it at no charge.  Just ask.

On April 1, 2025, the Government of Ontario announced that the general minimum wage will increase from $17.20 per hour to $17.60 per hour effective October 1, 2025. This change applies to most employees but not all.

Some exceptions include:

• Students under the age of 18 who work 28 hour or less per week while school is in session or those who work during a break or summer holidays will be entitled to a minimum wage of $16.60 per hour effective October 1, 2025.
• Hunting, fishing, and wilderness guides will see an increase to $88.05 for working fewer than five consecutive hours in a day or $176.15 if they work five or more hours in a day, regardless of whether the hours are consecutive. This change is effective October 1, 2025.
• The homeworkers minimum wage will increase to $19.35 per hour. This includes students of any age who are employed as homeworkers. This change is effective October 1, 2025.

(content from E2R)

Sun Life has released their annual report on the Provincial Dental Fee Guide adjustments.  Overall, most provinces are seeing lower than average increases with Ontario being the LOWEST after a few years of much higher than average increases (see below).

2025: 2.03%      2024: 4.5%      2023: 8.50%     2022: 4.75%    2021: 4.60%    2020: 1.27%   2019: 4.19%   2018: 2.5%

The majority of our client/partners are not expected to see large negative effects from the impending tariffs being levied by the US.  In fact, some may actually be helped by those imposed by Canada.  That said, there are some options available to employers that are affected.  The article below provides some general into on these programs. 

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As discussed in our FTR Now articles of February 6, 2025 and February 14, 2025, the economic uncertainty caused by the prospect of tariffs has led employers to consider temporary layoffs and mass terminations.

https://www.mondaq.com/canada/employee-rights-labour-relations/1588664/managing-temporary-workplace-disruptions-supplemental-unemployment-benefit-plans-and-the-employment-insurance-work-sharing-program

Every year we see an insurer or TPA generate a “tax update” that shows the new CPP/QPP/ EI/ Tax/WSIB and benefit taxation details.  Some of these have been the same for years (like RST on benefits in Ontario), but others change each year like CPP.

The document below, from BBD, provides information that you may find useful. 

If you have any questions, please reach out anytime, or speak to your accountant.

BBD-Tax-Tips